Analysis of urgent and emergency care system policy in Ireland, policy coherence and implementation

1 Sep 2015

An increasing and often inappropriately large proportion of the resources and attention of the healthcare system is being diverted into the Emergency and Urgent Care System (EUCS).To describe the evolution of health policy relevant to EUCS in Ireland, using the Health Policy Triangle, to examine coherence between different policy documents and to assess implementation of these policies.Design: retrospective documentary analysis of current policy documents outlining the delivery of emergency and urgent care
Inclusion criteria: Published national and regional documents related to current policy influencing emergency and urgent care.Conclusion:Emergencyandurgentcareisadevelopingarea.Therearesustainedeffortstodevelopasystemsapproach.Publicopinionwhenexpressedisoftennegativeasserviceuserinvolvementparticularlyinpolicyandhealthservicedevelopmentispiecemeal.